Amie was having a good day. A very good day. Like most days for him. He was a happy guy, an optimistic man, and that tended to shape his days. Even if they were exactly the same amount good or bad as anyone else, he looked on the bright side, and that made things just appear better. He liked that. There was a woman who apparently needed some help with an animal shelter, and Amie was in town. He was doing his thing, looking for his sister, thinking about his crush, and travelling. He spent a lot more time at the guild hall ever since Kaz had joined, but Amie was travelling. Mariana wasn’t going to find herself, or at least not in the way Amie needed to find her.

Amie was dressed more for travel. Which looked almost identical to his normal clothes until he changed. He had on jeans, for once, and a short sleeved white button down shirt instead of a long sleeved one and a blazer. He felt officially more casual than he had felt in years. It was weird. He showed up in Shirotsume Town and found the local shelter. He had a backpack on, and wasn’t intending to spend the night in town. He would head out and be somewhere else before he settled down. At least, if he didn’t find out anything about his sister. If he found out something about her, he was going to follow that lead no matter where it took him.

It was sunny, and early in the day, so he stayed outside, enjoying the weather for a moment, planning to go inside soon, but not wanting to rush anything. He wasn’t someone who generally rushed. Things were nice and laid back with him.

Shirotsume town had always been one of Cerys’s favorite places. She had just returned from a job, though the job had been a favor to a guild mate and not one that actually paid. Worse, she had spent a pretty penny pretending to get rooms in Akane Resort just so that they could get higher in the building safely and without arousing suspicion. The Ace held her bag she kept her jewels in in front of her, shaking the nearly empty purse. Her baby blue eyes stared at it with a slight frown. She couldn’t believe she was taking a D-rank job just so she’d have the money for a meal that was halfway decent before the end of the day. She was so glad she didn’t have to pay for her room anymore as the Ace.

Cerys was wearing her short-sleeved green jacket with the tight, long-sleeved shirt underneath a baggier blue t-shirt, as well as a set of shorts and a set of athletic sneakers. On her back was a small pack she kept a few supplies in when she went places.

She held the request in her jacket pocket, and she pulled it out to check the address. She’d been right, it was only a block away. Cerys wasn’t great with cats. She was more of a bird person. She had a Raven she kept in her room, but it rarely came with her when she was away from the guild hall. Still, how hard could it be to watch them in a shelter? It paid a surprising amount, at least. She’d have enough for nearly a week since she didn’t have to save up for rent… if she was stingy.

Once Cerys arrived at the shelter, she saw an admittedly handsome blond man relaxing outside. She had no idea who she was, but thought maybe he was the one waiting on the help to arrive. “Hiya,” Cerys greeted with a wave. “I’m ah, here for the cats. I know, I know… it’s weird for me to take a job like this, but I’m hungry,” she admitted with a giggle. Most people in town knew her after seven years, especially now that she had her new job. She wasn't quite as good at remembering faces.

While Amie was enjoying the lovely weather a woman arrived. She was dressed so casually. He reminded himself that he was dressed almost as casually as she. Despite thinking about her appearance, he wasn’t actually judging her. He didn’t think less of her for her appearance, he simply made the observation. She was dresses casually. Actually he was dressed more professionally than her, but given that he was here to watch cats… that probably wasn’t a big deal.

Cerys greeted him and he nodded, smiling at her easily. He chuckled when she said it was weird for her to take the job, “Well Ma’am, I don’t know who you are, but I think it’s a perfectly good job to be taking, hungry or not. After all, animals are a delight,” he told her, his easy smile still on his face. He was a happy person, and he liked making friends. He put out his hand for her, in case she wanted to share it. “I’m Amie, a pleasure to meet you. I believe we may both be here for work. But I am certainly not your employer,” he informed her. She probably thought he was. She seemed nice enough though, so he would be happy to spend the day working with her and getting to know her. Plus cute animals. They were important too.

Cerys shook the polite man’s hand, blinking a few times as she assimilated what he was saying. She couldn’t help but laugh at herself for making assumptions. She knew she hadn’t recognized him. “Sorry, my mistake. I’m not the best at faces, but most people know me around here,” she told him as her arm swung back down to her side. Her other arm held her pack on her shoulder so it wouldn’t slide off. “Cerys Whitman, also known as the new Ace of Blue Pegasus,” she told him semi-officially. There was a carefree air about her despite the obvious level of responsibility she would feel for her guild family.

“I’m here because I’m apparently bad at worrying enough about myself since I got the job a few weeks ago,” she told the man semi-jokingly. Cerys’s stomach growled a bit, which caused her to blush very slightly. She could probably get something free from a guild mate or even someone in the city, but she felt a certain responsibility for taking care of people and not the other way around. An Ace could easily get the choicest jobs from the guild, meaning tough but well-paying, but Cerys wasn’t that kind of Ace. She took on important jobs, not well-paying ones, and her last couple had been charity work. “So ah, men first?” she asked, opening the door for Amie. It was her town, more or less. She might as well be polite.

They shook hands, which Amie appreciated. It was nice when people returned the manners. He wouldn’t have felt awkward if she had rejected the hand shaking. He would simply have accepted it. If it wasn’t her prerogative to shake his hand, fine. However, he was pleased that she did, and they could move forward on a good foot. She apologized for the mistake and explained herself. Cerys Whitman. New ace. “Fancy title,” he told her with that ever present smile. “Strange thing. It seems like everyone is getting a new Ace lately. You’d think they would hold onto them in times like this… but I’m no Guild Master, or Ace, so what do I know?” he said with a chuckle.

He knew better than to suggest he would give advice to the guilds. He was a part, but not a sage. She talked about not worrying about herself. “Ah, a lovely lady like yourself should take good care. You can’t care for others if you don’t care for yourself first, eh?” he mused. Her stomach growled. Perhaps he should take her to lunch after this. She opened the door for him and he gave her a small bow, walking in ahead of her, despite his inclination. He wasn’t going to reject the offer.

Inside was a young woman. Ms. Loren Affer. She saw them entered and hurried over. “Hello! How can I help you?” She didn’t know if they were customer’s or help.

“Hello Ma’am. I am Ambrose,” he said, still ignoring his last name. “I believe we are both here as you’ve requested help for today?”

“Oh! Lovely. Yes, I do need some help while I am out today,” she told them with a grateful smile.

Everyone was getting a new Ace lately, it was true. Cerys was privy to a lot of political information like that now. “I don’t know the reason for the other guilds,” the raven-haired girl started with a shrug, “But… I only know what I was told, and it was that while I’m not the strongest Ace ever, I have more qualities than our… last ace has that the guild needs right now. I wasn’t trying to take anything, but… well to be honest I’m flattered.”

It was about that time they walked inside and were greeted by a blond girl whose name escaped Cerys as well. She really wished she was better with names, but she did recognize this one, at least. She nodded when Amie introduced the two of them. He was an odd one, the way he acted like a gentleman and told her she should take care of herself. Maybe she should… she just had a lot to do for other people first, didn’t she? She blushed slightly at his thoughtfulness. Maybe someone needed to think of her if she wouldn't.

“Yeah, we can watch things for you while you’re gone,” Cerys told the girl, linking her hands behind her as she leaned back slightly, straightening her back a bit. She watched the girl curiously, wondering what they’d be instructed to do.

It was true, right? Amie probably had more opinions on Guild politics, but he wasn’t someone who really got into that sort of thing. People went to Amie for a good time, a nice word, and a laugh. They didn’t go to him for discussions of new policies and serious debates. He was fully capable of any of the aforementioned things, but he kept a lot to himself all the same. It was just like his sexuality. Only a few people had decided that he was gay. Honestly. Most just thought he was a flirt who never settled down. He thought it was pretty funny. Still, he didn’t educate anyone on the matter.

“More qualities, hm?” Amie had opinions. No matter how many ‘more qualities’ this young lady had, it didn’t justify replacing the last Ace. Even if their Ace stepped down, it would take a lot. He was in a position of authority, a trusted and experienced member. To replace him… this was not acceptable behavior. Amie wasn’t there to judge, but he couldn’t think of any thing they could say that would make him think replacing an acting Ace was logical. He knew the situation with the councils. They were split and in war. He knew the situation with Taki. That was filling a void. Replacing an Ace? Well, he simply brushed past that oddity.

“Good, good. Now. I don’t have too much I need from you both. I have all the animals back in a few rooms. I will give you the tour,” She led them back. One room for cats, one for dogs. They were in fair sized cages, some of the cats in joint cages for bonding. Same with puppies. There were also some birds and other animals. “Now, I need some of these cages cleaned. All of them need to be fed this evening before I get back, and if you could tend to the lobby in case someone comes in needing something, that would be lovely. Do you think you can handle all of that?”

Cerys looked around while the young lady told the accidental duo about what they needed to do. They needed to feed and take care of the animals in both wings of the building, She grinned, setting her hands on her hips as she focused back on the young woman. “Cage cleaning and feeding,” she nodded. “No problem!” she gave the girl a quick thumbs up and a wink. How hard could it be to look after a few animals stuck in cages? She did feel a bit sorry for them being stuck in cages though. She didn’t even keep her own pet in a cage most of the time, though that did mean she had to clean up after him a bit more. At least ravens were smart.

“So do you want the dogs or the cats?” Cerys asked Ambrose, thinking that the front desk would be easy enough to keep an eye on even if they didn’t sit at it constantly. If they broke up the work load, they could probably just relax until food time… or…. Food time for the animals anyway. Cerys was going to have to wait until she got paid. At least she’d have someone to talk to while they killed time.

Alright. Ambrose felt as if these tasks would be easy enough. He didn’t like getting dirty, but he could probably manage alright. Also it probably wouldn’t be too dirty if he was simply careful. Cerys seemed enthusiastic. She was already asking Ambrose if he wanted the dogs or the cats. “Ah. I should say… the dogs perhaps. Either is fine though. Do you have a preference?” he asked.

Ms. Affer looked at them a moment longer, before say, “Well, I believe you two will be alright then. The keys are right here, they are labeled. The food is in this pantry here, and the cleaning supplies are in that closet. Thank you so much. I must hurry now.”

She made her leave promptly after that point and Amie nodded. He still wanted to know which Cerys preferred to handle. It was polite to allow the lady her chance to pick jobs. Also it was polite to let anyone have first pick. Maybe she didn’t care. He didn’t really spend a lot of time with dogs or cats, truth be told. “Miss, do you have any pets at home?” he asked. It seemed like a reasonable question, and he was curious about her now. He had his bunnies, but she didn’t know that yet.

As the woman took her leave, Cerys waved goodbye, looking between the dog and cat doors. She wasn’t very experienced with either of them. She could take care of five older sisters, one overwhelmed father, and a younger sister, but she had never had time for pets before she joined Blue Pegasus. Afterword, she’d managed to get her pet bird, but… she was pretty sure birds and cats weren’t exactly the same. “Ah… I think I’ll take cats. They’re smaller, so they’d probably be easier to handle…” she figured thoughtfully. She didn’t mean to give Amie the harder job, but she didn’t want to do something stupid or panic because a dog didn’t like her. She wasn’t afraid of dogs, but she didn’t like hurting animals, and was afraid of what she would do if one decided it thought she’d be a good chew toy.“Oh,” Cerys blinked and looked back to Amie as she snapped out of staring at the dog section in her odd dog snack thought process, “I’ve just got a bird. His name is Shadow, but I don’t think my experience with him will help much either way…” Cerys decided. “How hard could it be though, right?” she asked with a shrug as she turned to go get cleaning supplies from the storage closet. “At least it’ll be entertaining to have someone to talk to other than animals that don’t talk back,” she shrugged and opened the closet, pulling out a few things she thought she might need.

Well, now they were alone with the animals and each other. Basically not alone at all. However they were not under the watchful eye of their employer. She seemed like a hardworking and focused woman. Ambrose was happy to be helping her out. While he greatly enjoyed a good fight, if he could do something simply like this he was happy to lighten her burden. On the plus side, he also got to interact with a young woman he’d never met before.

She wanted to work with the cats. They seemed easier. He chuckled. “Well, I am sure whichever you selected, you would handle it with grace and ease. You seem to be a very capable young woman,” he told her with a smile. “I am happy to care for the dogs anyway.” She had a bird at home apparently. Named Shadow. “Shadow, hm? What kind of bird is it?” he asked as he walked over to the dog cages and opened one up to pet a dog. “Oh? Well I promise to give as interesting and entertaining a conversation as possible.” He wouldn’t want to waste the fact that he was a person who could carry on a conversation. Besides, this way he got to learn about her.

“Shadow’s a raven,” Cerys informed the blond-haired young man as she handed him some of the things that were clearly for dogs or would just plain be helpful on his end. He seemed naturally good at compliments. Cerys couldn’t help but enjoy being complimented. She wasn’t big-headed or anything, but receiving a good word from someone, even someone she barely knew, was good for the spirits. “I’ve had him for about five years. I bought him at a pet shop. He can be a little messy, but I somehow managed to get him to be nearly house trained. I was told it wasn’t possible,” she chuckled. “Master Jora has someone take care of him when I’m gone. I used to be gone a lot less though.”

After Cerys had set down her armful of supplies and they’d sorted through what they thought they should at least start with, Cerys gave Amie a nod. “I promise I’ll try to keep up. I like being friendly but I can be a little quiet sometimes, believe it or not,” she grinned slightly coyly. “It probably won’t be hard for someone like you to get me talking though.” Cerys shrugged, walking into the cat room. She left the door open for the moment – she planned to sweep the floor around the cages and talk a bit before she got to the more involved stuff.

Cerys was helpful enough to start giving Amie the supplies he needed. She seemed to be friendly enough, and apparently had a raven. Sure, her bird would probably be happy eating Ambrose’ pets, but that wasn’t something to hold against either of them. Amie kept his bunnies safe, and certainly Cerys kept her Shadow well loved. She’d had him for five years? That was longer than most of Amie’s bunnies. Some of them were on the older end though. “Well that is nice of her, having someone look after your pet while you are gone. My friend Kade takes care of mine if he is there and I am gone. Usually that’s how it has been, but I have been travelling less, and him more lately.”

“There is nothing wrong with being quiet. But I have been told I have the opposite effect on people,” he admitted with a chuckle. He could usually make people feel at ease, which was important. He liked to be friendly and to make people as happy as he was. She headed into the cat area and he supposed he should start tending to the dogs. He had one out and moved him to another room so Amie could begin cleaning his cage. It wasn’t his ideal work, but it also wasn’t that bad.

Cerys chuckled at Amie’s words, shaking her head as her blue eyes glanced at him. “Strangely enough, I thought I’d travel less once I got my new position,” she admitted, “But I’ve done nothing but errands to help my guild and the people here for weeks. I’d love to be resting right now, but…” her stomach rumbled, “… I might have a bit of a gambling problem… accidentally… and ended up in a casino…” she sighed, hanging her head dramatically before chuckling again.

“Anyway, long story short, it’s not in my best interest to make a game out of who can do a better job, and I should probably go get started cleaning,” she decided as she turned around, giving Amie a wave. He wasn’t bad looking. She felt kind of lucky to be stuck on a job with a guy like him. Who knew, maybe something would come of it after. One could never tell when they’d run into their soulmate, after all.

Cerys stood in the room, looking around. “… this actually needs cleaned?” she wondered aloud, noting that aside from a few spots , it looked pretty clean already. Someone was a neat freak. Or at least thought the cats needed a sterile envirnonment. “Ah well, better get started.”

Ambrose was surprised to hear that this lovely young woman had a gambling problem. It simply wasn’t what first jumped out at him. Of course everyone had their own vice, he was neither judging her, nor pretending her understood how everyone in the world worked. He didn’t. He sometimes didn’t even understand how he worked. He just knew enough to be a gentleman and make good friends. Still, gambling? Was the excitement really worth the risk of losing money? This from a man who loved his adrenaline might have sounded strange, where he to say it out loud.

She also mentioned that she travelled a lot, and Amie chose to respond to that comment and not the other, “Well, as long as you are there, being a good respresentation of yourself and your guild, and doing the work your guild needs done… that is what is best, no?” he suggested, being optimistic.

Cerys suggested she head over to her job, and Amie didn’t argue. The bandits had sometimes kept dogs, for various reasons. Another bad memory. Oh well, he knew how to tend to dogs. These cages were so much neater it was hardly even the same species. He simply got on his knees and began scrubbing, pushing back the nastier memories. He didn’t like it, mostly for that reason, but he managed. He actually cleaned up all of the dog cages after a while.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Cerys admitted to Amie with a grin as she stood there looking at the cat cages. It wasn’t loud enough for him to hear, but she did think he was right. Now, if only she wasn’t doing it because she had a stupid gambling problem… She let out a sigh, opening up cages to clean them out. Cerys worked hard doing something she wasn’t actually that experienced with – bird cages were messy, but mostly involved getting rid of the newspaper at the bottom. Cats got everything… covered in fur. She must have sneezed forty times as she worked.

It was nearly half an hour of cleaning later when Cerys looked back over her shoulder, thinking she heard Amie come through the door she’d left cracked just to make sure she’d heard him. What she saw instead caused her to open her eyes widely. One of the cat cages were open, and the cat was gone. She’d just heard a cat in the middle of a jailbreak! “Get back here!” she exclaimed, slamming the current cage shut in a hurry and running out, throwing open the door. She looked back and forth, but no cat could be seen. “Amie!” she cried, a look of panic on her face, “One of the cats escaped and I can’t find it!” What was she going to do? Blue Pegasus was going to look like a joke if the Ace had screwed up such an easy job…

Cleaning wasn’t so bad. Even if it was busy. It wasn’t as much fun as getting punched in the face, but then again, even that wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It hurt. Mostly after the adrenaline had worn off, but even in the moment it hurt. It was fun though. He imagined Cerys was probably a quite competent fighter. Being the Ace of Blue Pegasus sounded like a high responsibility. However that didn’t come to mind when he heard her voice now. Calling out that she had lost a cat. Oh, shoot.

Amie raised up immediately, smashing his shoulder on a cage. Ouch, he winced, closing the cage and rubbing his shoulder as he quickly walked to her location. “You lost one of them? When? Augh… um, its fine. It’s a cat, they’re predators… I mean, that isn’t good if they eat another animal. But it shouldn’t get itself too hurt. No worries, we’ll find it,” he assured her with a nod. Yes, it was better to be positive than be concerned. He probably would have sounded more mellow if he wasn’t still rubbing his shoulder.

“We should just fan out and look. And Cerys, don’t feel bad… it’ll be alright,” he reminded her. There, that was more of the Amie he knew. With a hand gently on her shoulder for that moment even. Then he moved his hand and headed to the next room to begin searching. He didn’t actually see the cat, but he started opening cabinets and looking under tables to see if he spotted an escaped furball.

Cerys watch Amie seriously as he told her not to worry about losing the cat. She nodded to him, looking around quickly without moving. The Ace wasn’t sure where to look. Birds could be found up high but cats… where did one find cats? She started looking around the room, in case the cat was in here and she’d missed it when she was informing Amie. “I guess I didn’t get the cage latched or something,” Cerys finally straightened up when she’d concluded the cat wasn’t in the room. Her eyes darted to the open front window. It had been a decently nice day, so the poor woman who didn’t know she was missing a cat had left it open.

“I bet it jumped outside,” Cerys decided. She walked to the door, messing with her jacket anxiously. She paused long enough to look at Amie and give him a reassuring grin of her own. Cerys was normally a very positive young woman. “No worries,” she agreed with him finally, giving him a thumbs up. “We’ll find it. I’ve gone through worse, right?” she decided aloud. “I’ll meet you back here soon!” she opened the door, nearly dashing out before turning around to make sure the door to the cat room was closed. She then hurried outside, looking high and low for the lost fluffball, calling “Kitty kitty!” as she went. At least she wasn’t worried about how hungry she was at the moment.

Cats could be found up high. Amie felt like a bird might be harder to find than a cat. Sure, cats could sneak into strange places and under blankets, but birds could fly. Cats only seemed like they could fly, in how they jumped from place to place. Especially if they wanted to get to a bird. Still, it probably wouldn’t be too bad. Cerys admitted to not latching the cage well, and he nodded. “That is alright, we will simply learn from that in the future.”

She said maybe it jumped outside. “A fair assessment. After all, it would want to explore unfamiliar terrain if it has freedom temporarily.” Cerys and Ambrose headed their separate ways, and he decided to help her look outside. It was a good guess, after all. He attempted to focus his magic all to his ears. Channeling that to try to pinpoint any helpful noises. It wasn’t a magic that he dabbled in often enough to know if it really worked, but he felt like it did. Or maybe it was just him focusing really hard.

Either way as he wandered around with his eyes closed he heard some rustling. Eyes opened spotted a shrub. People sure liked their landscaping. He walked closer to the plant, seeing it move. If he were unlucky there would be some sort of snake inside or something. It would be unfortunate. Luckily as he dug through the shrub he felt something soft. Grabbing around he pulled out a kitten. “Ah-hah!” he proclaimed. Pulling the kitten to his chest and rubbing his thumb over the baby animal’s head. It was quite cute as it let out those shrill little mews.

He carried the animal around, still stroking its soft face until he found the blue haired girl. “Ah, Cerys, look what I found,” he beamed, showing her the little animal. “I think this is what we’re looking for. Unless there are kittens growing in the plant life around here…” he mused. Unlikely. Still he was grinning, “So no harm done indeed.”